Council expecting request for $12.5M loan

Call it the $12.5 million nobody — well almost nobody — wants to talk about.

When Pueblo city and economic development officials won a state Regional Tourism Act project award in 2012, there was general celebration. The far-reaching plan could bring as much as $43 million in development to the Downtown over 50 years.

But the clock is running on the first phase — expanding the Pueblo Convention Center — and all signs are that City Council is going to be asked in November to loan the project $12.5 million from the city’s half-cent tax fund for economic development.

Jim Munch, executive director of the Historic Arkansas Riverwalk of Pueblo, told council Monday night the financing must be in place by Dec. 30 according to the RTA agreement with the state.

“It’s critical we meet our deadlines,” he said, although he never mentioned the $12.5 million loan. But council knows the request is coming.

Munch was joined by Rod Slyhoff, president of the Greater Pueblo Chamber of Commerce, and John Batey, executive director of the Pueblo Urban Renewal Authority.

Only Councilman Chris Kaufman mentioned the wanted city loan in his not-so-friendly questions.

“What if you don’t get the $12.5 million?” he asked Munch, Slyhoff and Batey, saying he was skeptical the city would ever be repaid.

“Then you won’t trigger the $43 million or whatever amount of revenue comes,” Slyhoff countered. “We need the new facilities to attract new visitors. You won’t increase sales tax revenues unless we do something like this.”

Asked why council hadn’t told the public about the loan request, Council President Steve Nawrocki said the Pueblo Economic Development Corp. hadn’t approved the plan yet.

PEDCo uses the half-cent revenue to recruit new employers, a purpose expressly written into the half-cent authorization by voters. Council has the final say over spending that money.

“PEDCo is our partner and I won’t support this if they don’t,” Nawrocki said.

PEDCo officials at the council work session said that board has made no decision on the loan idea.

As to whether the city can loan money from the half-cent fund without voter approval is a separate legal question that City Attorney Dan Kogovsek said he couldn’t answer Monday night.